Yesterday, we brought you an interview with Gillian Jacobs (Bad Milo!, “Community”) and John Gallagher Jr (Underwater, 10 Cloverfield Lane) who revealed the genesis behind writer/director Jacob Chase’s debut feature, Come Play – a film that cleverly dissects society’s dependence on state-of-the-art gadgets with the use of technology never feeling shoehorned into the plot.
Based on Chase’s original 2017 short film Larry, Come Play is a terrifying tale with a rich emotional core. Inspired by the director’s fascination with complicated antagonists and the connection between modern technology and loneliness, the film follows Oliver, a non-verbal eight-year-old on the autism spectrum who feels he doesn’t fit in. Desperate for a friend, he seeks solace in his ever-present cell phone and tablet that he depends on to be able to communicate with the world. But when a mysterious creature going by the name of Larry starts trying to use Oliver’s devices as a portal to break into our world, Oliver’s parents must fight to save their son from the monster beyond the screen.
To celebrate the film’s release tomorrow, June 30th, SCREAM also hopped on Zoom with Chase who revealed how Frankenstein was a big inspiration for the film and what went into designing this mysterious creature that can only be seen through phones and tablets:
Words: Howard Gorman
